USA > New York > Oswego County > Landmarks of Oswego County, New York > Part 76
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Oak Orchard, or Oak Orchard Rifts, is a small hamlet on the Oneida River about seven miles above Three River Point, and was the favorite fording place of the Indians. Near the river bank evidences of an extensive Indian burial ground have been discovered. Here a root called by the redmen Ga-ren-to-quen, or ginseng, signifying "legs and thighs separated," was extensively dug for medicinal purposes. The first settler was David Winters in 1807. In 1811 George Foster, better known as "Tory " Foster, settled on the same lot (35) and in 1815 George C. Schroeppel took up his residence on his estate. The first birth was that of Betsey Knapp in 1822, the first legal marriage was that of Henry Schroeppel and Annie Knapp in 1820, and the first death was the accidental killing, while raising a barn, of John Warner in 1821. A lock of the Oneida Slack-water Company was located at this place, and around it some business sprung up, notably that of the grocery of A. McCarthy, which was burned October 22, 1873. At one time the hamlet contained about 100 inhabitants. Within recent times it has become a summer resort.
Three River Point is a summer resort on the Phoenix branch of the R., W. & O Railroad at the junction of the Oneida and Seneca Rivers and the head of the Oswego River, and is situated partly in this town and partly in Clay, Onondaga county, the station being in the latter.
Roosevelt is a small rural hamlet near Pennellville, and as long ago as 1846 was dignified with a post-office.
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THE TOWN OF SCHROEPPEL.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Gilbert's Mills began in a class which was formed there in 1826, under the leadership of Hyman Sutton, who served in that capacity for five years. In 1831 a successful union revival occurred. Among the worshipers at that time were Hyman Sutton and wife, Asa Bailey and wife, Artemas Ross and wife, Elias Newton and wife, Patten Parker and wife, Ira Sutton and wife, and Mrs. W. B. Coy. Services were held in private dwellings and in the school house until 1837, when a church building was commenced, which was completed in 1839 and dedicated early in 1840 by Rev. Isaac Stone, presiding elder. Of the earlier ministers the names of Rev. Mr. Densmore, Elisha Wheeler, and Charles Northrup are recalled. A union Sunday school was formed about the time the church was organ- ized and continued as such until 1861, when the different denominations began the maintenance of their own schools.
The Free Baptist Church of Gilbert's Mills dates its legal organiza- tion from February 26, 1831, but prior to that meetings and baptisms of this denomination had occurred in the neighborhood under the min- istrations of Rev. Benjamin McKoon, who was the first settled pastor. The constituent members were Jonathan Babcock, Josiah Chaffee, Percy Ayre, Charles Smith, Albigence Chaffee, Clarissa Dayton, Jo- hanna Chaffee, Polly Gardner and Mrs. Albigence Chaffee. Stephen Griffith and Harlow Merrill were the first deacons and Dea. G. W. Tur- ner was the first church clerk; the latter served in that capacity for about fifty consecutive years. In July, 1837, the frame of the first edifice was raised ; the structure was completed and dedicated by Rev. Robert Hunt, pastor, in the spring of 1839. In 1875 it received exten- sive repairs and was rededicated in October of that year by Rev. R. L. Howard. Among the pastors who succeeded Rev. Mr. McKoon were Revs. Ansel Griffith (brother of Dea. Stephen Griffith), John R. Page. Stephen Krum, Joseph Wilson, William Russell, William C. Byer, David J. Whiting, H. A. Baker, William A. Stone, Amos E. Wilson, S. W. Schoonover and others.
The First Congregational Society of Phoenix was organized and in- corporated in April 1837, and on June 14 of that year the church was legally formed and constituted by Rev. John Eastman at the house of Hezekiah Barnes, with twenty members, viz. :
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Hezekiah and Caroline Barnes, Catherine and Elizabeth Barnes, Della Budd, Anna Burke, Mrs. Hulda Candee, Julia Candee (Mrs. Charles Sweet), Simeon Chapin, Mrs. Charity Davis, Ira and Deborah Davis, Mary Anna Hill, Dea, Samuel and Martha Merry, John and Bertha Squire, Theodosia Wall, and Isaac and Teressa Wing.
A frame edifice was built and dedicated the same year on the site of the present parsonage. Rev. Mr. Dada, of Volney, occasionally preached to the society until November 3, 1841, when Rev. Mr. Lathrop became stated supply. January 26, 1842, a connection was effected with the Presbytery of Oswego under the "plan of union," but the church remained Congregational in government. Rev. G. N. Todd became acting pastor February 3, 1843, and served until June 7, 1846. About 1845 a Sunday school was organized, and from November 26, 1846, to August 19, 1848, Rev. Mr. Dada, "of Granby," officiated at communion seasons. February 23, 1849, Rev. H. S. Redfield was installed the first pastor, serving as such until January 27, 1853. His successors have been
Revs. Stephen Vorhes, May 15, 1853, to May 2, 1857; J. V. Hilton, August 14, 1860, to May 9, 1865; Ovid Minor, A. S. Bosworth, E. Perkins, and J. H. Munsell, supplies, 1866 to 1875; J. H. Munsell, March 16, 1875, to February 21, 1876 ; H. P. Blake, July 16, 1876, to July, 1878; James Deane, acting, November 18, 1878, to February 18, 1881 ; T. H. Griffith, March 21, 1881, to March 28, 1883; H. L. Hoyt, July 31, 1883, to August 1, 1885; G. F. Montgomery, September 1, 1885, to 1887 ; Mr. Butler, 1887 to 1890; and H. L. Hoyt, incumbent, since spring of 1890.
January 3, 1863, they dissolved connection with the Presbytery of Oswego and on September 18 united with the Oswego Congregational Association. In 1876 the present brick edifice was erected at an ex- pense of $13,000, and on January 31, 1877, it was dedicated by Rev. Mr. Robinson. The old structure was removed and is now a cabinet storehouse in the rear of Baker & Ott's furniture store, and on the site a frame parsonage was built in 1885 at a cost of $3,500. The society has about 195 members and a Sunday school with an average attend- ance of 150 scholars under the superintendency of Dea. C. E. Candee. The deacons are C. W. and C. E. Candee, Van R. Sweet, C. E. Hutch- inson, and Edward Hastings; trustees, C. E. Candee, C. E. Hutchin- son, J. I. Van Doren, Newton Hughes, F. W. Alvord, and F. A. Carter.
The Methodist Episcopal church of Phoenix was organized at the school house in that village by Rev. L. Adkins in 1838 with the follow-
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THE TOWN OF SCHROEPPEL.
ing members: I. N. Butts and wife, Liberty Worden and wife, Harvey Loomis and wife, Thomas Flower, J. R. Names and wife, and Mrs. Davis. At the same time the first Methodist sermon was preached in the place, and that year an edifice was commenced, but it was not com- pleted and dedicated until 1856, the pastor then being Rev. W. L. Lisdell. It cost about $4,000 and was begun under the pastorate of Rev. P. H. Willis. The first trustees were William Gilbert, Thomas Flower, I. N. Butts, M. Chesebro, Dr. Cobb, and G. Morehouse. In 1885 the present brick church was erected around the frame of the old structure at a cost of about $10,000. It was built under the pastorate of Rev. Loren Eastwood, and was dedicated the fall of that year by Rev. B. I. Ives, of Auburn, assisted by the pastor in charge, Rev. Silas Ball. During the ministrations of Rev. J. B. Longstreet the society purchased the present frame parsonage. The pastor is Rev. Wesley Mason. The society has 200 members and maintains a flour- ishing Sunday school of which Robert Simpson, jr., is superintendent.
The Freewill Baptist church of Phoenix was organized September 2, 1846, with these members : Walter Peck, Thomas Clough, Albert Clough and wife, Almira Clough, Harvey Hollister and wife, Stephen Bachelder and wife, G. W. Oakes and wife, Sally Ann Rice, Charles Higby and wife, Joel Morseman and wife, and John G. Hull and wife. The first officers were Walter Peck, deacon ; Harvey Hollister, treas- urer ; and John G. Hull, clerk. In 1851, under the pastorate of Rev. W. W. Sterricker, and with Walter Peck, the pastor, David S. Tabor, John P. Rice, and Josiah Chaffee as building committee, a frame edifice was erected at a cost of about $2,000. It is now used as a soap man- ufactory. In 1878 the present brick structure was built on the site of an old hotel, which was purchased of Sylvester Rugg for $1,850. It cost about $5,000 and was dedicated early in 1879, at which time Rev. J. H. Durkee was pastor. The various pastors have been
Revs. J. B. Page, O. W. Smith, W. W. Sterricker, S. Bathrick, B. H. Damon, C. Putnam, D. Jackson, C. Cook, S. Aldrich, E. Crowell, William McKee, J. H. Durkee, J. P. Linderman, Hanscom, Ward, A. D. Bryant, and E. E. Morrell, incumbent. The deacons are S. M. Parsons, William Blakeman, and Elmer Patchin; trustees, S. M. Par- sons, William Blakeman, M. J. Chaffee, Eugene Emmons, and George Hazleton.
The First Universalist Society of Schroeppel, at Pennellville, was or- ganized in 1870, and in July, 1871, a Sunday school was started under
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the superintendency of Rev. S. Rice. An edifice was commenced soon after the formation of the church and completed and dedicated by the pastor, Rev. Mr. Rice. in June, 1871, at a cost of $3,500.
Emanuel church (Protestant Episcopal), of Phoenix, was organized April II, 1871, by the election of Bonville Fuller and E. C. Fitzgerald as wardens and Ira Betts, Francis David, William H. Rice, and B F. Denton as vestrymen. Services were held in the Y. M. C. A. rooms by Rev. Almon Gregory, the first missionary in charge, but after a brief existence the parish ceased its work and disbanded.
A church of the Adventists at one time had a small membership in town, but never acquired much strength.
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE TOWN OF SCRIBA
Scriba was formed from Volney on the 5th of April, 1811, and con- tains an area of 25,031 acres. From it was taken in 1848 all that part of the city of Oswego east of the Oswego River. It comprises all of the original survey township No. 18, or Oswego, lying north of the base line of Scriba's patent, and a part of No. 17, or Fredericksburgh, situated south of that line. The name Scriba was conferred by the Leg- islature in honor of George Scriba, the patentee, in spite of the fact that a portion of the inhabitants, being dissatisfied with the designation, cir- culated and forwarded a petition asking that it be called Boston. It lies in the northwestern part of the county, immediately east of the Oswego River, and is bounded on the north by Lake Ontario, on the east by New Haven and Volney, on the south by Volney, and on the west by the town and city of Oswego and Lake Ontario.
The surface is rolling, being broken into ridges which extend north and south, and which attain an elevation of from 100 to 180 feet above the lake. Abundant springs and numerous streams with their small tributaries afford excellent drainage, sufficient water for all farming pur- poses, and several good mill privileges, the latter being a valuable feature
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THE TOWN OF SCRIBA.
of Black Creek. Other water courses are Nine Mile, Stone, and Wine Creeks, which flow northwardly into the lake. The soil, a sandy and gravelly loam, supplied in places with considerable stone, and only moderately fertile, is generally well adapted to all branches of agricul- ture, particularly to the raising of fruit. Apples were long the staple product of the town. Strawberries and other small fruits are now grown in considerable quantities, while grain, potatoes, and vegetables are given more or less attention. Within more recent years dairying, in- cluding both butter and cheese making, has developed into an impor- tant industry and is carried on quite extensively. There are now four cheese factories in Scriba, all doing a profitable business.
The town at the end of the last century was covered with a forest of maple, beech, hemlock, and cedar. The saw mills rapidly converted the forests into lumber and the plow and spade have superseded the woodman's axe. With two exceptions these mills have all disappeared, leaving agriculture the leading industry of the town. There is a steam basket factory and saw mill combined in operation, and these together with the cheese factories and several fruit-drying houses and cider mills constitute the present manufacturing interests.
Numerous efforts have been made in this town from time to time to drain and reclaim to cultivation various pieces of swampy land, and with an appreciable degree of success. March 30, 1861, the Legislature ap- pointed Jacob Stroup, Henry Cook, and Ira Bundy commissioners to supervise the drainage of "Deer Ridge " or " Wine Creek " swamp, the expense to be defrayed by assessing the landowners benefited. Their work consisted of opening " a ditch at least three feet wide run- ning from the Oswego River and from the northeast corner of E. B. Talcott's farm to Kingdom road and from at or near the southwest corner of Shubael W. Stoel's land northerly to an old ditch, and thence far enough to obtain drainage." This and other similar enterprises have proved very successful.
The first highway in the town was laid out as early as 1812. It was known as the old State road and later became the plank road. Many if not all of the surveys were made prior to 1830, yet several thorough- fares have been extended since that period. All have kept pace with contemporary improvement, and at present are well graded and main-
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tained. The Rome and Oswego plank road, which for several years was the scene of constant activity, passed through Scriba, and was com- pleted in the spring of 1848. The Oswego and Syracuse plank road was finished in 1850.
The completion of the Oswego Canal along the western border of the town in 1828 aided the settlement and development of the town, as it opened additional markets for local products. In 1848 improved ship- ping facilities were afforded at Oswego by the opening of the Syracuse and Oswego Railroad, and in 1865 the R., W. & O. Railroad between Oswego and Richland was completed, with a station at North Scriba (Lycoming post office). The New York and Oswego Midland Railroad, traversing the west part of Scriba, was finished in 1869. To aid in the construction of the Midland road the town was bonded May 1, 1869, for $20,000, which indebtedness has recently been canceled. B. C. Turner and I. A. Downs are the railroad commissioners.
The town, as previously stated, was originally patented to George Scriba. Soon afterward a large tract, since known as Hamilton Gore, became the property of John B. Church, Gen. Alexander Hamilton, and John Lawrence, as detailed in a previous chapter. Every encour- agement within the power of the proprietors was given to promote im- migration and the rapid development of this section. Land was sold for $2 per acre, on indefinite time, and lots for church buildings and sites for mills were donated for the purposes named. The early settlers were mainly from Herkimer county in this State with a sprinkling of the plain Puritan element of New England.
Nearly a year passed before a town organization was effected. The first town meeting was held at the house of Hiel Stone March 3, 1812, when the following officers were elected : Capt. Henry Potter, super- visor ; John King, town clerk ; Hiel Stone, Samuel Tiffany, and Joshua Miner, assessors ; Samuel B. Morrow, collector ; Hiel Stone and Wal- ter Read, poormastors; Hiel Stone, Walter Read, and Joshua Miner, highway commissioners ; William Coe and Samuel B. Morrow, con- stables ; Orrin Stone, postmaster. Resolutions were adopted specify- ing " that a lawful fence shall be four and one-half feet high, and well wrought from bottom to top ; " that any landholder permitting Canada thistles to stand " after three days' notice is given by any person " shall
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THE TOWN OF SCRIBA.
be liable to a fine of $5 and costs, and that every wolf caught and killed " by any inhabitant of the town " shall be subject to a bounty of $10.
The following have served the town as supervisors : 1
Henry Potter, 1812-14; Samuel Tiffany, 1815-16 ; Theophilus S. Morgan, 1817-23 ; Peter D. Hugunin, 1824; T. S. Morgan, 1825-27 ; Joseph Turner, 1828-29 ; T. S. Mor- gan, 1830; Charles King, 1831; Peter S. Smith, 1832-33; Henry Fitzhugh. 1834; John C. Hugunin, 1835; Edwin C. Hart, 1836-37; John B. Edwards, 1838; Lucius Van Schanck, 1839; James Lyon, 1840; Daniel Hall, 1841; Samuel B. Morrow, 1842 ; Simeon Bates, 1843 ; George Wales, 1844; Jacob Richardson, 1845; Orville J. Harmon, 1846 ; Edwin C. Hart, 1847; Daniel Hall, 1848-49 ; Thomas Askew, 1850-52; Daniel Jones, 1853-54; William H. Wales, 1855; Robert Simpson, 1856-67; Joel A. Baker, 1868; Robert Simpson, 1869-70; Joel A. Baker, 1871; John B. Sewell, 1872-73; Hiram L. Hart, 1874; John B. Sewell, 1875; H. L. Hart, 1876-78; William D. Colby, 1879; James Sears, 1880 ; John E. Coe, 1881-83; Amos Allport, 1884-88; William H. Enos, 1889-90 ; H. L. Hart, 1891-92 ; Marshall B. Turner, 1893-95.
The town officers for 1894-95 were :
Marshall B. Turner, supervisor ; George W. Rumrill, town clerk ; Thomas W. Smith, Charles E. Cornwell, and Charles Coe, justices of the peace; A. King Hill, Enoch Miner, and J. F. Brown, assessors ; C. Adelbert Stone, commissioner of highways; Tilton E. Coe, overseer of the poor ; Harvey D. Jones, collector. There are sixty-six road dis- tricts and three election districts.
The first permanent white settler in Scriba outside of the military post at Oswego was Henry Everts, who located with his family in the southwest part of the town, near the river, in 1798. " Here he felled the first tree cut by a white man, and while it was falling, although he was entirely alone, with no white person within several miles, he took off his hat, swung it around his head, and made the forest ring with his cheers. It is said of him that, having no seed with which to start a meadow, he went farther down the stream, cut up sods from some grassy spots there, and transplanted them to his own land."2 A few years later he removed to the town of Oswego. His son Henry, jr., was the first white child born in Scriba.
The first settlers who lived and died upon their locations were Asahel Bush and Samuel Tiffany, both of whom came in 1801 and took up
1 Many of these officials were more prominently identifled with the village and city of Oswego than with the town of Scriba, and hence are noticed more properly in Chapter XVII.
2 Johnson's Hist., Oswego Co., p. 412.
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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.
farms near that of Mr. Everts. Both had families, and moved hither from the east with two ox-sleds. Mr. Bush was a preacher and the first to advocate biblical teaching in the town.
It is impossible at this late day to ascertain the names of more than comparatively few settlers during the first decade of this century. Those already mentioned seem to have been the sole inhabitants prior to 1804, in the spring of which year the families of William Burt and Hiel Stone, each consisting of the parents, six sons and four daughters, arrived from Ovid, Seneca county, coming in Durham boats by way of Cayuga Lake and the Seneca and Oswego Rivers. Both lo- cated at what is now Scriba Corners, near the center of the town-Mr. Burt occupying the two western lots, and Major Stone the two eastern lots. Major Stone obtained his title as an officer in the war of 1812, in which his sons Orrin and Erastus also participated. He brought with him a yoke of oxen, three cows and some sheep, and until the spring of 1805 the two families remained at the fort at Oswego. Meanwhile log houses were built at the Corners, the cabin of Mr. Burt being situated near the site now occupied by the widow of William Burt 2d, while that of Major Stone stood near the lot purchased some years ago by the grange society. Mr. Stone set out the orchard now owned by B. C. Turner; it was the only one for miles around and attained considerable celebrity. In 1806 he built an addition to his house and opened it as a tavern, which was the first in the town. A few years later it was super- seded by a brick hotel, which stood on the lot owned by the First Baptist church society. The brick were made by Mr. Stone himself, and for many years he was the only landlord in this vicinity. His inn was long since destroyed by fire. Erastus Stone was born in Green- ville, Greene county, in 1791, and came to Scriba with his father in 1804. He was a surveyer and assisted in laying out roads in this town and in Volney. In 1818 he married Alma, daughter of Solomon Everts, one of the pioneers of Mexico. Later he built a saw mill, and for several years carried on an extensive lumber business. He was a large fruit grower, a respected farmer, owned a large tract of land on lots 23, 24 and 44, and died May 22, 1870 His sons, Henry E. (born in 1829) and Dwight, are living in the south part of the town near the family homestead. Hiel Stone, a brother of Francis S. and a grandson of
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THE TOWN OF SCRIBA.
Major Stone, is a respected resident of Scriba Corners ; he was born in 1816.
William Burt was the first justice of the peace in Scriba. He was the father of John, Harvey, Daniel and Calvin Burt, and the grand- father of Mrs. James Church and Mrs. Sally Parkhurst (daughters of John). Harvey Burt was born here in 1808.
Samuel Jacks purchased a farm on lot 89 in 1805. It soon afterward passed to Solomon Mattison (the grandfather of Col. L. V. S. Mattison), some of whose descendants still retain the ownership.
In 1806 several new settlers arrived. Daniel Hall located on lot 78, but in 1807 sold to Joseph Turner, who occupied the place until his death. Since then it has been in the possession of his son Russell. Joseph Worden settled on lot 81, and upon his death the property passed to his son Perry H., who was born in 1813, and who was suc- ceeded by his son, J. H. Worden, the present occupant. The adjoining farms across the road were purchased about the same time by Oliver Sweet and John Coon, while Ludwick Madison in the same year bought a farm on lot 104, which he sold in 1807 to Whitman Church. Mr. Madison then removed to Volney. George Cyrenius settled on the place on lot 90 that was long in the possession of his descendants ; it is now owned by B. C. Turner. Paul Sheldon and his son, Paul, jr., who was then sixteen years of age, came on foot in three days from Herkimer county in the spring of 1806 and located on 100 acres of land on the State road, within the present limits of Oswego city. This, Mr. Sheldon had purchased for $3.75 per acre in 1805, and after their arrival they cleared 240 square rods of ground and planted it with corn and potatoes. After harvest they returned to Herkimer county, and during the winter of 1806-07 the family, including eleven children, came hither with one cow, a hog, and a yoke of oxen. Mr. Sheldon lived and died there ; Paul Sheldon, jr., subsequently located on lot 41, where his death occurred, he being the last survivor of this large family. The first marriage in town was that of John Masters and Elsie Baldwin in 1806, the ceremony being performed, it is believed, by the bride's father, Rev. Samuel Baldwin.
In 1807 Hiram Warner, a wheelwright, settled on the Randall farm, and the same year his son died here, being not only the first death in
.
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town but the first interment in the old Burt burying ground, the first cemetery opened in Scriba. Ephraim Parkhurst located on lot 70 also in 1807, while his brother Daniel settled on lot 66. The former was the father of Nelson, Rufus and Charles, and the latter of Isaac and Sylvester. The same year Dr. Deodatus Clark, the first physician in Scriba, came in from Onondaga county and settled in what is now Oswego city. Whitman Church, previously mentioned, who purchased the farm of Ludwick Madison in 1807, was originally from Otsego county, whither he returned sometime during the war of 1812. James Church, his son, was born there in 1796, came here with his father and located permanently near Scriba Center in 1809. He was a boatman on the Oswego River, a potash manufacturer, merchant, tavern-keeper and a farmer, and a son-in-law of Major Hiel Stone, whose daughter he married in 1823. He was postmaster and justice of the peace many years, a Democrat and later a Republican in politics, a Methodist in re- ligion, and a man highly esteemed. He served in the State militia and at the battle of Oswego in the war of 1812, held several minor positions of trust, and had three children, two of whom were James Church, jr., and Mrs. Edgar Sharp. Willet G. Hall, a native of Her- kimer county, came to this town in 1807 and followed farming. The second marriage in Scriba occurred this year, being that of Walter Reed and Susan Morrow, by William Burt, justice. "At the conclusion of the ceremony the wife returned home and the husband, having urgent business in Utica, continued the journey."
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